ACL: Edit Scripts Easily

As soon as you create an ACL script, you often have to add to it or edit it. There’s an easy way to do it.

Compare Multiple Fields with Excel vlookup (Easy)

When you need to determine whether several fields in 2 Excel documents (or tabs) match, all you need to do is combine the fields in each document into one value and then compare the 2 values using vlookup.

You could do this many ways, but if you’re new to Excel formulas, I think this way is easier to configure and understand. I’m assuming you’re familar with the basics of Excel and vlookup already.

If you are not familiar with vlookup, you might want to review this first, as my post does not teach you vlookup, just another way to use it.

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Stinkin Thinkin Reboot

Recently I was having a problem with my phone connecting to another device, and I tried almost everything, including reconfiguring my phone and the other device. Finally, I decided to reboot my phone, and suddenly my phone connected. Perhaps the device configuration + phone reboot was what it needed, but I now wonder if the phone reboot alone would have done the trick and saved me a lot of unnecessary work. The problem is, I won’t know unless it happens again.

Easiest Way to Steal Confidential Data

A lot of company data is lying around unprotected, making it very easy to steal. No, I’m not talking about picking up other people’s documents at the printer. Stealing printouts isn’t hard, but it can be risky, especially if the printer is a busy one. Besides, it has 2 other problems:

• Your chances of picking up confidential data are low at any given time.
• The person will look for the printout and wonder what happened to it.

There’s a much better way that is fast, easy, simple, raises no suspicion, and is basically impossible to detect, if you do it correctly. Can you think of what it is?

For Easier Reading and Linking, click PRINT

To make it easier to read articles on the Internet that span multiple pages, look for a Print button or link on the page.

Most of the time, the link is at the bottom of the page, but sometimes the Print link is at the top (of course, not all web sites offer this, but most of the online magazines do).

ACL tip: Rerun a Join Easily

Rerunning an ACL join command is much easier than most people realize.  And everyone using ACL screws up joining two tables more often than he’ll admit.

It goes like this: You painfully select the primary keys, the secondary keys, the primary fields, and the secondary fields, enter the output table name, and run the join. The join ran successfully, but you forgot to add one primary field or to adjust the options on the More tab. Now you have to do it all again. Or do you?

How to do an Easy Server Share Audit

Okay, so you’re not up to a wastebasket audit? Too demeaning, too sneaky, too many sticky candy wrappers? How about a simple server share audit?

Many companies have shared drives, and then they have “over-shared” drives, those locations where anyone who needs a space to store files that they share with a couple departments. Or perhaps your company just doesn’t lock their shares according to the least privilege principle.

If Called, Don’t Answer

No, I’m not suggesting that you don’t answer your phone. Just be careful what you do or say when you are called or contacted.

What am I talking about? A principle I refer to as the CONTACT principle, which will keep your private information private: